Soil conserving damming attachment for cultivators



SOIL CONSERVING DAMMING ATTACHMENT FOR CULTIVATORS 2 Shee ts-Sheet 1 Filed April 3, 1937 29 n 29 n 29 n 1 22 g 29 14 29 24 A7419 5,24 BY A TTORNEY Aug 12, 1941. R, w. BRUENE SOIL CONSERVING DAMMING ATTACHMENT FOR CULTIVATORS '2 Sheets-Sheet Filed April 3, 1937 mall [iii

Z l/VE TOR TTOR 131 Y Patented Aug. 12, 1941 SOIL CONSERVING DAMJVHN G ATTACHMENT FOR CULTIVATORS Rudolph W. Bruene, Cushing, Iowa Application April 3, 1937, Serial No. 134,751

1 Claim.

' My invention relates to an attachment for cultivators.

An object of my invention is to provide means for conserving soil as well as conserving moisture through uniquemeans attachable to a standard drawing device.

A further object of myinvention is to provide means for causing dams to be formed in a field,

which means is self-powered and can be drawn behind a standard tractor having cultivating attachments or can be used behind a disk harrow.

A further object of my invention is to provide a damming arrangement which forms pockets in the soil to conserve and prevent erosion of the soil particles.

A. further object of my invention is to provide an arrangement which when reversed results in a loosening of the soil.

' A further object of my invention is to provide means associated with the damming arrangement so that the dams and the adjacent pockets are" efiiciently formed either in a symmetrical arrangement or in an offset manner.

A further object of my invention is to provide the above mentioned objects in a simple construction; v

, With these and other objects in view, myinvention consists in the construction, arrangement and combination of the various parts of my device, whereby the objects contemplated are atthe rear thereof,

Figure 6 is a side view of Figure taken in section, V

Figure '7 is a modification,

Figure 8 is a plan view showing the damming and pocketing formed by one of the forms of the device, t Figure 9 is a sectional View taken generally along the lines of 9-9 of Figure 11,

Figure 10 is a sectional view taken along the lines i0l0 of Figure 11, and

Figure 11 is a plan view showing the arrangements for attachment to a disk harrow; A

My invention principally contemplates the use of a special attachment which can be attached to any standard drawing vehicle, and which attachment is specially arranged to, provide dams in a cultivated field so that the said dams during rainfall will conserve and store the water in the pockets formed between successive dams.

A further principal objective in providing such dams is to eliminate the washing away of the loose soil, which objectionable feature is present during heavy rainfalls. For instance on a field having a sloping elevation, the tendency would be for the water to wash away the soil downwardly thereby carrying the same away from the field. The formationof pockets will eliminate this feature since the dams will break up the rush of water. The'conservation of soil as well as water on a field is of prime importance especially during a drouth since then every bit of moisture must be retained.

By providing such dams then, both features as heretofore explained are accomplished. I have used the character ID to designate generally the rear beam of a standard tractor. The beam 10 is of square or of other shape and attached to the same is the downwardly projecting member H 'to which is pivoted at I2 the further member [3. Attached to the member l3 at M is the usual rod l5 carrying the collar 16 and the uppercollar IT. a

The rod [5 passes through the portion [8 and interposed between the collars and the portion I8 as shown is the compression spring i9. These constructions are well known in the art and are formed in this manner in standard tractors for cultivating'purposes. In the use of my device the cultivating blade is removed and the substantially U shaped member 20 is firmly attached by means of the U-bolts 2| to the beam Journalled at the ends of the U shaped member 20 are the shafts 2Id secured by means of the nut 22 at one end which is further secured by the washer 23. The other end of the shaft includes the further nut 24 having a spring lock washer 25 for maintaining. tension under any adjusted condition, and keeping the assembly from turning too freely. A pair of cylindrical members 26 are spaced upon the shaft2 la, and rigidly attached .to the members 26 are the four spokes 11.. The spokes 21 include the outer portions 28 to which are attached the blades 29. blades 29 are bevelled to a point as at 30.

The blades 29 are positioned at a substantial angle to the principal body of the spokes 21 and I have found through experiment that the angle The of the blades relative to the spoke should be ap proximately 45. The device as explained is selfpowering since it merely needs to be drawn by the tractor and it will thereby rotate itself. This rotation is accomplished in the following manner. The pivoting beam i3 is pivoted from the tractor in the usual manner and the member 29] is forced downwardly so that the blades 29 will penetrate the loose soil in the rows. As shown in Figure 2 the units are placed in spaced relation so that each unit is positioned in the rows already formed and as illustrated the units are being used in a corn field and three units are used correspondingly. The blades 29 due to the fact that they penetrate the soil will causerotation of the shaft 2| in the direction of -the arrow 32 as the tractor moves in the direction'of the arrow 33. This is due to the fact that the edge of the blade exerts a holding effect while the shaft travels forwardly causing the aforesaid rotation.

The spring unit IS in combination with the balance of the mechanism assures that the rotational parts maintain their proper level with a steady pressure being applied thereat. As the device travels ahead the blades 29 will tip in the direction of the arrow 34 as shown in Figure 1 about the edge of the blade as a pivot. The blade then acts as a shovel and during the movement in the'direction of the arrow the loose earth is carried forwardly and inthis manner successive pockets such as 35 (see Figure 1) are formed along the row. These pockets are uniformly spaced and then provide the dams or elevated portions 35 therebetween.

If the blades 29 were positioned, radially from the shaft the dam effect would be destroyed since there would not be a smooth action of shoveling and withdrawal of the bladesf'rom the loosened earth and the symmetrical form of the dams would not be affected. I have found that the approximate angle of 45 is the most efficient angle for this purpose since it allows the blades toenter and leave the ground with the best efiiciency in forming the aforesaid pockets and dams. By the use of such device a multitude of dams can be formed in a field-thereby resulting in saving of a great deal of moisture and a conserving of much soil which would otherwise be washed away. i 7 I Figure 3 shows an ar angement comprising the same features with the exception that a smaller unit containing the blades is used. A unit of this character canbe used on either side of the trac torso that when the tractor is reversed at the end of the row the unit will travel back in the same row and willprovide dams in the other side thereof. For this reason the blades 29 in this construction should be made slightly greater than half the necessary distance. The unit can be supported by means of a rod 31 and by means of the U-b01ts'38 and the special bearing structure can be employed as shown in Figure 4 which comprises a tongue 39 which is received within the groove 40 in the member 4|. The member 4| extends into the hollow cylindrical member portion 42 in which rotates the shaft 43; a smaller space being left at 44.

'The shaft 43 is securely threaded and attached at 45 to the member 31'. Thespokes such as 255a are afiixed to the member 4|. The shaft 43 includes the longitudinal centrally arranged opening 45 which passes completely through the shaft member 43 and 'whichterminates in the grease cup connection 41 at the outer end thereof. The

grease connection 4'! is of the usual standard type for allowing grease to be inserted through pressure. The grease passes through the opening 46 thence through the space 44 and thence about the shaft 43, thereby providing a Well greased journalled connection.

In case it is desired to form a series of pockets in side by side relation in each individual row the construction shown in Figure 5 can be used. In this construction several small shovels or blades 29 can be employed mounted upon the same shaft. The blades can be staggered as shown in Figure 6 with the closer blades being indicated by the character 29 and which blades are 180 apart. The next sequence of blades is indicated by the character 29a and there are again only two blades in this sequence. In other words there are eight rows of blades, each row including two blades only with the successive rows being staggered so that every other alternate row is in line. During passage of such unit through the row the pockets will be formed in an alternate-arrangement so that there will not be a direct cross connection transversely and so that the water will be stored without running transversely of the field. Figure 8 shows how such blades will form the pockets as indicated by the character 83 showing that adjacent pockets have side walls formed by the next pocket.

The lines 45: represent the crest or the apex of the dam, which apex lies approximately medially of the adjacent pocket. Figure '7 illustrates a further modification of blade arrangement. A single unit can be employed using a smaller width of blade the same being approximately from one inch width up to any other suitable width. This unit includes only a single row of radially arranged blades 2?) and is usable for a single row in the field. The blades 29 can be tilted out of the direction of motion so that the effect is slightly more pronounced if such an effect is desired. The modification shown in Figure 7 can also be employed for loosening the soil. This is accomplished by simply reversing the direction of motion of the device so that it will be moving in the direction of the arrow 59 instead of to the right. In this direction the blades 29 are loosening the soil in an efficient manner due to the angular positioning of the same and then are not providing the aforesaid dams.

From this arrangement it will be seen that by merely moving the unit in either direction, dams can be formed or the soil can be loosened as desired. Figure 11 illustrates the use of the unit incorporating the principal features of my invention wherein a common disc harrow BI is employed which includes the usual discs 52. A framework 53 is attachedv by means of the mem bers 54 to the harrow arrangement and there are four blades 29 of smaller width to each row formed by the disc ahead of the unit. For instance there will be four blades spaced apart traveling in each row formed by the'disc, and the same alternated staggered arrangement can be provided. This is shown clearly in Figures 10 and 11. Figure 10 showing a cross section with the next group of four blades being staggered to the previous group. This provides the advantages set forth in theabove-mentioned staggered arrangement so that the dams are provided in principle both forwardly and laterally.

'If desired also these units can be slipped over the units are slipped on, such shafts, of course, being square in cross section. The draw bar 55 is attached at 56 to the frame 53, so that by pulling the unit in the reverse direction or in the direction of the arrow 51 the blades will perform the function as described above and will correspondingly loosen the soil thereby providing a device for that particular purpose.

It will be understood throughout the description that any desired proportion or size can be employed without departing from the essential principle elucidated therein and that any form of attachment can be employed. For instance as shown in Figures 9 and 10 a square shaft 58 is employed to carry the units although it will be understood that any other type of shafting may be used. The blades 29 during rotation are self-sharpening due to their engagement with the soil so that a sharp edge is constantly maintained.

It will now be seen that I have provided a damming attachment for cultivators which includes means for conserving soil as well as conserving moisture, that I have provided such means which is self-powered and which can be drawn behind any standard apparatus, that I have provided such a device which forms pockets in the soil, that I have provided a form of such device which when reversed loosens the soil, and

that I have provided all the above mentioned objects in a simple construction.

Some changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of the parts of my invention without departing from the real spirit and purpose of my invention, and it is my intention to cover by my claim any modified forms of structure or use of mechanical equivalents, which may be reasonably included within their scope.

I claim as my invention: A damming attachment for cultivators comprising a shaft, a plurality of radially arranged spokes attached to the shaft, blades attached transversely to said spokes, said blades being p0- sitioned angularly with respect to the spokes, said angle being suibstantially there being an attachment for one or more cultivated rows, one side row including a smaller width attachment for accommodating an approximate half row, means for journalling said smaller attachment including a cylindrical hollow member attached thereto, a shaft having a central opening received therein, a grease connection communicating with the said opening, an annular groove adjacent the hollow member, a tongue received in the groove, an attaching bar for attaching the unit to a tractor to which said tongue is attached.

RUDOLPH W. BRUENE. 

